Shock absorber



Patented Sept. 18, 1934 SHOCK Asonnnn y -Jesse G.'\Ha`,wley, Painted Post, N.Y., assignor v to Hawley-Jones Corporation, Riverside, N. Y.,

a corporation of New York Application November so, 1192s, serial No. 322,871 s claims. 'tomas-ess) This invention relates to .the `art of shock absorbers and, more particularly,`r to hydraulic shock absorbers.

lWhile many hydraulic shock absorbers have been developed, and some of them have gone into wide commercial use, all of such previous hydraulic shock absorbers with which I am familiar have varied in the resistance offered in accordance With variations in temperature, and have required valves or bypasses which had ay tendency to get out of order or become-clogged.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved type of shock absorberwhich is simple in construction and efficient in operation. y

t is another object of this invention to provide a shock absorber which will not need adjustment after being installed. y

It is a further object of this invention to provide a shock absorber which will consist of simple parts that can easily be replaced by unskilled labor should replacement become neces- Sary. Y VIt is a still further object of this invention to provide a double acting vhydraulic. shock ab,- sorber.

It is another object of this invention to provide a shock absorber which will prevent rebound Without restrictingr normal springv action.

It is a further object of this invention .to Vprovide the combination of a hydraulic shock absorber and an actuating mechanism provided With means for compensating for variations in the magnitude of the actuating shocks.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a hydraulic shock absorber having means for preventing leakage of the fluid me-v dium used. I

It is also an object of this invention to pro- 40v vide a hydraulic shock absorber which has no valves and only requires one moving part. c

With the above and other objects in view,

Which vvill berapparent asithe description proceeds, I have set forth my invention in the'fol- 45j lowing specification and have illustrated itin the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. `1 is a side elevation of my shock absorber applied to the front endvof a vehicle; Fig.'2 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale taken on the lineV 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectiononthe line 3-1-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 3A is `a transverse section showing a modified formi of piston and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section, on a further enlarged scale, through theY packing 55; gland. l

yIn theiaccompanying drawing 10 designates my newvshock absorber whichis attached to a vehicle inlany suitable mannen'as by a bracket 11, securedto the vehicle frame 12 by bolts 13, and a toggle mechanism 14. The latter preferably consists of a pair of `toggle links 15 and 16 which are pivoted together at 17 and have their opposite Lends secured to the frame 12 and vehicle springs 18 by 'bolts 19and 20, respectively. Inpracticel have found it convenient to attach` the lower toggle link 16 to the spring 18 by a clamping lug21 carried by the usual spring clip 23,3which holds the spring 18 to the axle 22.

The toggle mechanism 14 is connected to the shock absorber 10 in any convenient manner, as 70 by meansof a connecting rod 24, one end yof which is attached to the pivot 17 of the toggle links 15 and 16, and the opposite end of which is secured to4 a piston rod 25 by means of a threaded coupling 26.

. As best shown in Fig. v2, my shock absorber 10 consists of a cylinder` 30 provided Witha bore 31 of uniform cross section and with open ends 32 vand 33 which arel internally threaded at 34 and 35,A respectively, to receive packing glands 'lthat are correspondingly threaded at 38 and are centrally drilled and reamed at 40 to receive the piston rod 25. Y The latter ,isprovided With a piston 41, which ispreferably a circular disk brazed to the piston rod intermediate of its ends. As best shown in Fig: 2,: the piston rod .25 extends through both packing glands 37, thusequalizing the displacement on both sides iof the piston.

The external diameter of the piston is slightly smaller (for example a few thousandths of an inch) Vthan the internal diameter of the cylinder 30 toprovide a passage 42 for a liquid or semiliquid fluid 43, `such as oil, vaseline, cup grease, g1ycerin,ralcoholor Water, Which is inserted in the cylinder to offer the desired resistance to the movements of the piston. By utilizing the pas-V sage 42 for the transfer of the iiuid from one side of the piston 41Ito the other, as the piston is reciprocated. in the cylinder, it is ,possible 'to substitute aproduction job for a precision job in the manufacture of both the piston and the cylinder,v and atthe same time to make a valveless shock absorber.

. As best shown in'Fig. 4the packingglands'l may be ofV any suitabIecOnStruCtiOn, but in their preferred form they consist of commercial Vpipe plugs `comprising a body ,50,and ahead 51. These are drilled and reamed at 40, as described above, and are counterbored at 53 `to receive a 1.10

56 of the gasket and the interior of the gasket ring 55. This assures a permanently tight fit.

between the gasket 54, the pipe plug body 5.0,

and the piston rod 25, because the pressure de- Veloped between the pistonandthegasket as the former approaches the latterbuildsup, inY thev cavity between the portion 56 of the gasket and;

the interior of the gasket ring, Thispressesthe portion 56 of the gasket against the piston rod',

and the flange of the gasket against the.` sea.t5,8,

of the counterbcred portion, so that the greater thefpre'ssure' exerted on the shock absorber the tighterwillbe theseal created between theA interiorand the-exterior thereof. This is of especial advantage as it prevents the escape of the iiuid. Furthermore, by'rthe construction indicated, the packing is not compressed against the pistonr rod in ordertosecurely hold the packing in position, andthe packing does not Vcarry the weight of the piston rod andpiston owing to the long bearing surface formed bythe drilled and reamedportion 40 in the body 50 and-head 51.

`The fluid 43 Amay be inserted inthe-cylinder 30 in any desired manner but, as shown herein, this M, may'fconveniently be-y done by providing the latter -with a lubricator-nipple 61, which is screwed into a lug 62 that is brazed' to the cylinder and communicates withits interiorv through a port In practice I have found that a simple and effective method of supporting the shock absorber is to attach it to the bracket 1.1'I by means of an ordinary'pipe T v70 whose internal diameter isY originally slightly smaller than theA exterior'diam'eter of the cylinder but is reamed out at one end 7l vtothe exact' diameterv of the exterior of the-cylinder and is secured thereon by screwingit on. the corresponding end ofthe cylinder, which is provided with-'exteriorthreads 72 conforming to thosel on the interior of the T.

I have also found thatl a swinging pivotal con-v nection between thev pipe T `andthe bracket may bel conveniently provided as-followsz` The side opening in the .pipe T isreamed. out to receive a tapered-pivot member-73and isscrew threadedv at '7e to conform 4with threads -75 on the pivot member; .The latter is tapped to receiveva stud '76 provided witha. nut '77 threadedfthereon and a screw threaded shank 78. To assemble this pivotal connection the stud '76 isVinserted through the small end of the pivot member, the latter is'then screwed into the side-openingin the pipe T to a loose -t,.and the pipe T is thenscrewed on tothe cylinder 30. The stud 76 is then passed throughthe bracket 11 and is E tightly securedthereonwby a nutA 80. `By leav- 1 fractionxoi. a-ziturn. 5

. In' practiceit` is generallyfadvisable-to mount the .toggle-links 15 and lse-.that they willform an angler of approximately .90? under the lnormal vbody attempts to return to normal position the shock. absorber exerts little or no resistance untilthe toggle links have reached an angle of approximately because the toggle still has a greaterleverage than the shock absorber, hence the-normal spring action is not retarded. As the toggle membersattempt to separate to a greater angle, however, the shock absorber begins to have agreater leverage than the toggle, this leverage increasing in proportion to the amount the toggle is straightened,jandkilling the rebound. It will therefore be apparent that by my new shock absorber there is no posisbility of any objectionable rebound and -yet the normal action of the-springs is'not retarded in either direction, hence the occupants of the vehicle get alfull floating ride.

Owing to the extension of the piston rod through bothends of the cylinder the shock absorber normally exerts a constant load at alltimes, andthe toggle provides a compensation feature.

From the above description, it will be apparent that I have provided a double acting hydraulic shock absorber which does not build up shocks, which contains no valves, and in which thetransfer of fluid from one side of the piston to the other is preferably effected by providing aclearance between the periphery of the piston and theinteriorof the cylinder, and that thedegree of pressure desired is controlled by regulating theV amount of this clearance. In general, it is my purpose to substitute a production-'job for a precision job and I have found that a clearance of approximately .010 is sufcient to produce a scale pull of about 90 pounds pressure when a heavy liquid is used as the uid medium, and about pounds pressure when a light liquid is used, but greateror lesser clearances, as well as other pressures', may be used.

In` general, I prefer to makethe cylinder 30, pipe T 70,- vpiston 41, piston rod 25, gasket ring 55, and stud 76 of steel, packing glands 37 and pivot membery '73 of brass or iron castings, and the-gasket 54 of leather,although other suitable materials may be used if desired.`

Although various types of non-gaseous fluids may be used to oier the predetermined resistance-to the passage of the piston, I prefer-to use a non-clinging oil. Y

Although' I prefer to close the ends of the cylinder 30 with the packing glands 37, other closures may be used and still retain many of they advantages of my invention.

I also desire to have itk understood that, as showntin Fig. 3A, the piston 41 may-beprovided with perforations or with peripheral recesses either'inplace of or in addition to the appreciable clearance between the periphery of the piston andir the internal diameter of the cylinder. A Y( By 'closing-the 'cylinder' with the plugs having Ythe threadedr` body portion 50, which plugs are centrally drilled and reamed at 40, the

ported vehicle, a shock absorber, and a threaded pvot member which is rigidly attached to the vehicle and threaded into engagement with the shock absorber, to act as a pivotal support for the shock absorber.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the support is effected by a loosely fitting pivot member.

3. The combination of claim 1, in which the pivotal support is adjustable to take upy Wear.

JESSE G. HAWLEY. 

